Cycling UK Forum

Mine is used several times a week- about 100km a week - and several tours a year with full camping gear.

Knew I should have used more smillies'

My 30 yo bike had a spell in the middle with very little use. Then at the end regular commuting duties threatened to tear it apart. Ended up with getting a new bike for commuting.

Then one scary leisure ride on it where my steering felt very dodgy down a very steep hill with hairpin bends and over heated rim brakes that only reduced the rate of acceleration despite white knuckles from squeezing the levers. I stopped using it after that. I even managed to burn myself on the rims.

Overall that Raleigh needs the quill stem sorting out, new wheels, new brake pads, possibly brakes too and a host of other things. Beyond economic repair if it had been a car but sentimentality stops me skipping it. Worthless as a bike even if working well. Not to me. I doubt the brand will instill that linkage with modern range somehow. Raleigh has lost its position as a bike brand and in cyclists heart too. It's not even British now as everything for its target audience is made overseas.

If you get chance to see the classic film, Saturday night and Sunday morning it shows how life was in the Raleigh factory. Theres a scene near the start showing Albert Finney the star of the film, turning out bottom bracket axles on a lathe. This was filmed in the Raleigh factory and she's how mind numbingly boring this task was, and how factory life really was at the time.
It crops up occasionally on the TV.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_ ... prov=sfla1

Link to you tube extract https://youtu.be/M7dXCRM6EOM

reohn2 wrote:What killed UK industry wasn't just industrial action though it did play no insignificant part but came as a backlash to crass management skills lacking in foresight,R&D,with poor worker relations,and upper class twits who thought they knew best and were better,how wrong they were.
If they weren't so incompetent they were milking it for all it's worth,Raleigh,Triumph motorcycles,Rover,British Leyland and recently Norton motorcycles,the list goes on.
How is it Spain and Italy can build trains but the UK can't?

One important thing in keeping UK industry going in the past was our Empire. Our colonies often weren't allowed to make their own and had to buy from UK. I hadn't thought about this much till I saw something about the Indian Railway Locomotive factory. Although India had the largest railway system in the world, they weren't allowed to build locomotives, they all came from the UK. After Independence they started building their own in 1947.

Likewise with out of date cars exported to the colonies for assembly. Basically we had a protected market that didn't engender innovation, good management, quality - you name it.

By the time I was travelling in India and China in the' 80's, their upright roadsters were made by Hero or Flying Pidgeon. Sometimes old Raleighs are still to be seen.

simonhill wrote:

reohn2 wrote:What killed UK industry wasn't just industrial action though it did play no insignificant part but came as a backlash to crass management skills lacking in foresight,R&D,with poor worker relations,and upper class twits who thought they knew best and were better,how wrong they were.
If they weren't so incompetent they were milking it for all it's worth,Raleigh,Triumph motorcycles,Rover,British Leyland and recently Norton motorcycles,the list goes on.
How is it Spain and Italy can build trains but the UK can't?

One important thing in keeping UK industry going in the past was our Empire. Our colonies often weren't allowed to make their own and had to buy from UK. I hadn't thought about this much till I saw something about the Indian Railway Locomotive factory. Although India had the largest railway system in the world, they weren't allowed to build locomotives, they all came from the UK. After Independence they started building their own in 1947.

Likewise with out of date cars exported to the colonies for assembly. Basically we had a protected market that didn't engender innovation, good management, quality - you name it.

By the time I was travelling in India and China in the' 80's, their upright roadsters were made by Hero or Flying Pidgeon. Sometimes old Raleighs are still to be seen.

You're right of course,and interestingly the nations that lost WW2 specifically (West)Germany and Japan have done better since then.

AFAIK the Raleigh factory was used in some of the scenes in the film "Saturday night and Sunday morning". I wouldn't say it presented a good image of the company so guessing it wasn't too far from the truth (otherwise perhaps they wouldn't let them portray them like that). The lead character is shown slaving over a lathe on piece work, to make a decent living he produces as much as he can every day.

Tompsk wrote:AFAIK the Raleigh factory was used in some of the scenes in the film "Saturday night and Sunday morning".

There are some links three posts earlier...

Jonathan

Removed by request.

Thanks Mike

reohn2 wrote:

You're right of course,and interestingly the nations that lost WW2 specifically (West)Germany and Japan have done better since then.

I have posted in another thread that in 1930s Kenya a British made bike cost £6 but a Japanese cost £2.

My 1989 Raleigh Touriste - always too big for me but the smallest decent tourer I could afford. I took it to a Raleigh rally a couple of years ago and two ex-Raleigh workers actually admired it, even though it's now a bit of a 'dog's dinner'. Flat bars meant I could reach both brakes, and has also meant v-brakes. It's now my 'spare' bike but often first choice for day rides and weekend. This is it on a short tour last year, was out on it yesterday and thought what a lovely bike to ride it is.
[img][/img]